Sinker



y 1952 M. DE coux 2,604,719

SINKER Filed May 31, 1949 IN V EN TOR. Mar de Co ax Ki TTQRNE 3 Patented July 29, 1952 UNITED! STATES PATENT O'FFl-CE Merl de Coux, San Mateo, Calif.

Application May 31, 1949, Serial. No. 96,331

2 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to improvements in sinkers used in fishing, and its principal object is to provide a sinker especially designed for rough and turbulent waters suchas surf, delta areas and rivers with strong and swift currents.

It is further proposed to provide a sinker of the character described that will not roll over the surface of the water bottom in response to currents or undertow, but will firmly anchor it self in the bottom surface immediately upon reaching the latter.

It is further proposed to provide a sinker of the type described that in spite of its anchoring characteristics will readily free itself from the water bottom in response topull exerted on the line to which the sinker is attached for retrieving operations.

And finally, it is proposed to provide a sinker of the type described that may be readily ad- I justed for greatest efficiency under different operating conditions.

More particularly it is contemplated to provide a sinker comprising a cross having torpedoshaped or tapered weights secured upon selected ends thereof, the weights being arranged transversely to the plane of the cross and uniformly tapered in opposite directions and being adapted to penetrate the bottom formation and to bury themselves in the bottom surface underlying the body of water. The transverse member of the cross is adjustable along the longitudinal member thereof for increase and decrease of the gripping area, and the weight on the longitudinal member is removable to allow of a further modifled gripping effect.

Further objects and advantages of my in-- vention will appear as the specification proceeds, and the novel features of my invention will be fully defined in the claims attached hereto.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 shows a plan view of my sinker, and

Figure 2, a section taken along line 22 of Figure 1.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention, I wish to have it understood that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims attached hereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring to the drawing in detail, my sinker I comprises in its principal features a cross or frame 2 and weights 3 secured upon selected ends thereof.

' The cross consists of a longitudinal member 4, a preferably cylindrical body 5 slidable thereon, and cross-arms 6 secured upon the body 5 to project therefrom in opposite directions. The body 5 is secured upon the longitudinal member by means of a bolt 1 threaded through registering holes 3 and 9 in the body and the longitudinal member. A second hole 9 is preferably provided in the latter member to allow the body to be secured in either one of two different positions. I

One end of the longitudinal member has a ring [0 attached thereto, and the other end has a weight 3 secured thereon by means of a screw H. The weight bears against a shoulder l2 and is removable upon removal of the screw II.

The weight is elongated and projects from the plane of the cross in opposite directions. It is symmetric on opposite sides of said plane, and the opposte halves of the weight are torpedoshaped or bullet-shaped, that is, they taper from a circular base I3 in opposite directions to terminate in axial points M, the tapered faces being arched longitudinally as shown at l5.

The ends of the transverse arms 6 are provided with similar weights proportioned symmetrically so that the tips or points of the three Weights lie in the same planes paralleling the plane of the cross.

Under fairly normal conditions of the surf or the running water the sinker is used with the parts adjusted as shown in the drawing. Immediately upon striking bottom the weights automatically cause the sinker to assume a position parallel to the bottom and the weights automatically bury themselves in the bottom material, usually in such a manner that the entire sinker is buried, with possibly the upper points projecting from the sand. The water currents and the undertow will have no effect on the sinker and any rolling motion in response to currents is eliminated. Still, upon pull exerted on the line, the weights, due to their form, will readily climb out of the bed of sand or similar material in which they have been buried.

Wherethe current is extremely swift, it is advantageous to advance the cross-arms toward the ring I0, using the second hole 9 for anchoring the body 5 to the-longitudinal member. This effects greater spacing between the weights 3 and allows a greater anchoring area to be utilized.

If the current is light, the Weight 3 at the end of the longitudinal member may be removed. In that case the two weights on the ends of the cross-arms will partly bury themselves in the bottom surface, while the longitudinal member may teeter in response to changes in the direction of the current, bracing either the front end or the rear end against the bottom surface.

The sinker may be made of any suitable material. In the form actually used by me the total weight of the sinker is 9 ounces, and this weight may be reduced to 6% ounces by removal of the end weight.

I claim:

1. A fishermans sinker adapted for casting operations comprising a flat, open frame having a plurality of sets of opposing, symmetrical and torpedo-shaped weights projecting therefrom in a single annular series and at spaced points, with the axes of the weights disposed transversely to the plane of the frame, and line securing means attached to the frame at an outer point thereof to allow a line secured thereto to exert pull in the direction of the plane of the frame, the weights being operable to bury themselves in the bottom material of a body of water when striking the bottom, and the weights being relatively wide at their bases as compared with their lengths, so as to climb out of the bottom material when pull is exerted on the line in substantially horizontal direction.

2. A fishermans sinker adapted for casting operations, comprising a fiat, open frame having a plurality of sets of opposing, symmetrical and torpedo-shaped weights projecting therefrom in a single annular series and at spaced points, with the axes of the weights disposed transversely to the plane of the frame, and line securing means attached to the frame at an outer point thereof to allow a line secured thereto to exert pull in the direction of the plane of the frame, the weights being operable to bury themselves in the bottom material of a body of water when striking the bottom, and the weights having longitudinally convex outer surfaces and being relatively wide at their bases as compared with their length so as to climb out of the bottom material when pull'is exerted on the line in substantially horizontal direction.

MERL DE COUX.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 165,036 Smith June 29, 1875 192,414 Carpenter June 26, 1877 198,512 Hill Dec. 25, 1877 305,186 Herman Sept. 16, 1884 1,068,409 Chester July 29, 1913 1,480,655 Bennett Jan. 15, 1924 2,062,718 Kallberg Dec. 1, 1936 2,100,499 Whitehead Nov. 30, 1937 2,250,038 Sink July 22, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 188,597 France Feb. 7, 1888 

